The invention concerns a process and a device for braiding cables, individual cable cores, tubes or similar longitudinal work pieces with several support elements.
For the purpose of braiding cables, cable cores, tubes or similar work pieces it is known to use machines and devices, which wind metallic wires, textile fibers or comparable materials, called braided cores or support elements, respectively, around the work pieces to be braided, with the objective of improving their mechanical or physical characteristics such as their stability, resistance to wear or electromagnetic shielding. The individual braided cores are wound around the object to be braided in such a way, that each braided core surrounds the braided object after completed braiding individually.
In order to ensure safe functioning of such braiding, two braided cores are usually provided, where the pitch direction of the spiral lines formed by the braided cores is generally counter rotating to each other.
A sample for a device operating according to this process is described in DE 3113 528 B1.
For special application cases, for example, for electromagnetic shielding of energy conducting cable cores, a multitude of braided cores is used, where each pitch of the spiral line is dimensioned in such a way, that the totality of the braided cores completely covers the jacket surface of the cable to be braided.
The known processes of braided cores being applied around the work piece in a spiral manner function essentially in such a way, that the work piece to be braided is being pulled in a straight line past the point of braiding, and the braided cores used for braiding are moved around the work piece to be braided. The movement of the braided cores around the work piece to be braided is done mainly in a circular way in the plane diagonal to the payoff direction.
In order to achieve the braiding of the braided cores with each other, especially using a multitude of braided cores, complicated motion processes have to be realized, which can only be done with expensive devices. The disadvantage, especially, of this principle of braiding cables, individual cable cores, tubes or similar work pieces, is the fact that the total supply of braiding material has to be constantly moved around the work piece to be braided, in an appropriate storage element such as a spool, in order to achieve the spiral braiding.
Due to the forces resulting from this motion, the volume of braiding material included is limited, since an economical work speed of the machines and devices has to be guaranteed. The volume of included braiding material limited by these reasons determines, on the other hand, the continuous length of the braided work piece which can be manufactured.
A further process for braiding long work pieces with at least one support element is known from DE 195 46 773 A1. The fixing of the support element on the jacket surface of the work piece is achieved by the support element being formed into loops at discrete points of the work piece, which are each pulled together by producing cohesion. This process has the advantage that the supply storage for the support element an be stationary.
In xe2x80x9cHerstellung von Kordel-und Banderzeugnissen nach der Kamafiltechnologyxe2x80x9d; Ing. Rolf Arnold, Ing. Anna-Maria Bartl, Dipl.-Ing. Evelin Huffnagl; pages 4 to 10 of Band-und Flechtindustrie January 1993, published in February 1993 by Melliand Textilberichte GmbH, as well as in DD-A-110 905 mentioned therein, a process in conjunction with a device is described, where a braiding of a longitudinal work piece with exactly four support elements is achieved. The braiding is done, by moving the four gripping devices in such a way, that they can receive the support element of an adjacent gripping device. The movement planes of the gripping devices are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the work piece to be braided.
The present invention is based on the objective of developing a process and a device which simplify the movement for manipulating at least one such support element in the form of loops.
According to the present invention, to execute braiding of cables, individual cable cores, tubes or similar work pieces at high speeds with simple movement processes of the grips which manipulate the braiding cores, i.e. general manipulation elements.
For manipulation of at least one braiding core, especially in the form of loops and for contracting the same, several grips are preferably provided, whose movement in practice is simpler to synchronize, which requires less mechanical and control expenditure.
An advantageous process is given pursuant to the present invention, according to which the braiding of the work piece with a braided core chain consisting of several braided cores made of textile, metallic and/or similar fibers is done. Each of the braided cores preferably covers that part of the circumference of the work piece which corresponds to the reciprocal value of the braided core number, and preferably wraps around the adjacent braided cores. For example, using 3 braided cores, each braided core would cover approximately one third of the circumference of the work piece.
The braided core chain produced according to the invention is fabricated by using several grips manipulating the braided cores. Each of the grips used is preferably fastened to an oscillating roller with alternating motion.
These oscillating rollers are preferably arranged in such a way, that they have the same distance to each other and that the distance of each oscillating roller to the middle line of the work piece is identical. Each of the grips guides one braided core.
The number of braided cores and therefore the grips manipulating the braided cores is variable and can be adjusted for each application.
The process according to this invention proceeds in such a way that the tip of a first grip moves through a triangle, which is formed from the jacket line of the work piece, the backside of the second grip and the braided core guided by this second grip. Thereby the braided core of the second grip is put around the blade of the first grip. By the movement of the first grip a second triangle is formed, this one formed by the jacket line of the work piece, the backside of the first grip and the braided core guided the first grip. The tip of a third grip moves through this triangle, whereby the braided core of the first grip is put around the blade of the third grip. This third grip, due to its movement, together with the braided core guided by it and the jacket line forms another triangle through which the tip of the second grip moves, whereby the braided core of the third grip is put around the blade of the second grip. With the reverse movement of the grips a relative position to the work piece is achieved, where the braided cores located on the respective grip blade slip from the grip and thus wrap around the braided core of the grip on whose blade they were located.
The chaining of the braided cores according to the invention allows an advantageous braiding of cables, individual cable cores, tubes or similar work pieces at high speeds, where the supply of braiding material is located in a storage element which can be stationary.